


i make friends like i make cake - not very well (but still you stay)

by As_High_As_Honour



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Attempt at humour, Baking, Gen, Humor, Humour, Minor Angst, Minor Spoliers for Season/Series 2, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/As_High_As_Honour/pseuds/As_High_As_Honour
Summary: "I'm so fucking bored," Jason moaned from his place on the couch.He was currently buried under a cover he dragged from his room, and was using it to shield himself from the rest of the world. He had also hoped it shield him from the encompassing boredom that had descended upon him but, no such luck. It seemed there would be easy cure for this.~~~Or, bored out of their minds, Rachel, Gar and Jason decide to bake a cake together. It's a lot more fun than they thought it would be.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Garfield Logan, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Raven & Garfield Logan, Dick Grayson & Raven, Garfield Logan & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Raven, Raven & Garfield Logan
Comments: 17
Kudos: 150





	i make friends like i make cake - not very well (but still you stay)

**Author's Note:**

> I literally just joined Ao3 today, so this is my first fic. Hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> This is based off my own attempt at making Victoria sponge cake. I did all these things (except from the part about not switching the oven on - I remembered that!). 
> 
> I do not own Titans or DC.

"I'm so fucking bored," Jason moaned from his place on the couch. 

He was currently buried under a cover he dragged from his room, and was using it to shield himself from the rest of the world. He had also hoped it shield him from the encompassing boredom that had descended upon him but, no such luck. It seemed there would be easy cure for this.

A voice broke over the silence that had settled, muffled by his self-made cocoon. "What type of board? Cardboard? Cheeseboard?" A snicker followed, the kind that came from someone who knew they just told a bad joke but did not care. 

Jason ripped himself out of the relative solitude he had found underneath the cover so he could chuck the throw at Gar, who was sitting on the couch opposite him and was too busy laughing to stop the projectile from hitting his face. 

Rachel softly sighed from her place at the kitchen isle, having been made to put up with both boys' antics for a while now.

Two months ago, the three of them had piled into Donna's truck with Dick after narrowly avoiding the end of the world. Dick had promised them he'd take them somewhere safe, where they could learn how to control their abilities and train to fight with them. 

So far, their lives had been defined by the strict routine Dick had put them on and Jason was getting sick of it. On the one hand, being in the tower was _dope_ and the opportunity to become a Titan - _a freaking Titan_ \- was too tantalising to pass up. But now, after two months of nothing but training and training and, oh yeah, _more_ training, he was starting to feel a little stir-crazy. For fuck sake, Dick hadn't even let him go on patrol in the two months he had been here, so, overall, he was getting a little (read: a lot) sick of this whole forced-reallocation-bullshit Bruce had pulled on him. 

Jason groaned, regaining the attention of the only other occupants of the living room in Titans Tower. "Seriously, I'm so fucking bored, someone do something before I lose my goddamn mind." 

Dick wasn't in the Tower, for once. He had gotten a call from an old friend of the spandex-wearing variety who was in a jam and could use some help. He had left within ten minutes of getting the call, leaving them with clear instructions to not leave the Tower and to not blow anything up because 'they got bored.' He directed that last part at Jason, who had rather maturely flipped him off. 

That had been in the morning and now it was approaching 13:41, judging by the digital clock on the microwave Jason could _just_ see from his position on the couch. 

"Well," Rachel said, glibly, "We could do what we're supposed to be doing and spar." It was said in the unenthused tone of someone who knew no one would be voluntarily sparring today. 

"We could put on a movie," Gar said, looking more excited at the prospect than anyone had any right to be, in Jason's opinion. 

"You put on another movie and I'm gonna bitch slap you into the next century." If Jason had to watch one more movie, he was not going to be responsible for his actions. 

Gar glared at him but seeing that Rachel was as sick of watching movies as Jason was (and would you look at that, they were _agreeing_ on something), he gave up that fight pretty quickly. 

"How about we play a game?" 

"What, like a board game?" He scoffed.

Gar rolled his eyes. "No, dumbass, like a video game." 

"Pass. You guys get waaaaaaaay too competitive." Rachel dismissed the idea. Jason would argue with her, if it wasn't so true. Last time he and Gar had played a game together, they had gotten into a fist fight and had only avoided breaking anything because Dick pulled them apart before it got too serious. 

_Still_ , he thought, _a broken bone sure sounds better than this mind-numbing boredom._

Gar huffed. "Well, I don't see you guys coming up with any ideas." Which was... Fair.

Silence lapsed again as the three Titans ( _Not a Titan yet_ , a small voice in his head told him viciously, to which he responded with a heartfelt _fuck you_ ) tried to think of something that was new and different and complex enough to keep them occupied. 

_Lightbulb moment._ Jason grinned to himself. "I got it." 

~~~

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Rachel asked in a voice she hoped disguised her worry as she watched Jason and Gar pull out various cooking items from the cupboards.

Jason's brilliant idea had been to bake a cake. Which, admittedly, wasn't the worst idea in the world but still sounded like a close second. 

"Sure. How hard can it be?" He said with the air of someone who's never baked anything in his life. Gar sent her a grin from where he was getting a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator. 

Rachel was undeterred. "You do remember Dick telling us not to burn the Tower down, right?"

He mock-gasped as he clutched his chest, having gathered the last of the equipment. "Oh Ye of little faith!" He grinned at her glare, before setting his attention to his phone, the web page for the recipe he found still glowing brightly. "Look, we're following instructions, okay? It's not as if we're just throwing eggs and flour in a pan and hoping for the best." 

"But-" She started before being cut off by Gar.

"C'mon Rach, it'll be fun! Besides, I've watched Larry making cake before, so I'll be able to tell if we're doing anything drastically wrong." 

She let out a breath (which was not a huff, thank you very much) as she thought about the catastrophe this was sure to be. It was almost enough to make her put an end to this as best she could, or at least leave, so the blame couldn't be placed on her. 

But then she made the mistake of looking at the two boys in front of her. At Gar, who was as excited as a puppy dog about to go on a walk. At Jason, who for once was not smirking or scowling, but actually had a soft look to his face and the beginnings of a tentative smile, as though baking a cake with her and Gar would make his day. 

_I've already lost this battle, haven't I?_ She wryly thought. 

"We have to wash our hands first," was all she said before she marched to the sink, pretending not too see the high-five the other two shared behind her back. 

Once they had gotten everything ready, they took stock of their ingredients. In truth, Rachel was more than surprised by the fact they had all the necessary ingredients, as Dick had taken to making them healthy alternatives to perfectly good unhealthy food. She guessed he had bought them before his vendetta against junk food began. 

"Okay, what's first on the list?" Gar was practically buzzing with excitement. 

Jason skimmed the instructions before saying, "Oh shit, we need baking paper for the cake pans." 

Rachel sighed, knowing how unlikely it was they had that in the Tower. "Oh well, it was nice idea." She tried not to sound too disheartened. _This is what you wanted right?_

Gar, though, had a thoughtful look on his face, the kind he got when he was about to suggest a terrible idea. "Well, uh, actually," he started, trailing off at points, "Larry had ran out of baking paper once and he showed me a trick you can do when that happens. Fair warning, it's pretty messy." He said, holding his hands up.

Jason snorted. "Dude, this is gonna be messy no matter what. At least this way we can say it was all part of the plan." 

"So what do we need to do?" Rachel grinned, her hopes restored. 

Gar grinned back at her, significantly more mischievous, "Well..." 

About fifteen minutes later, the three Titans were covered in flour with sticky hands held far away from them. Gar's trick turned out to be an old baker's technique, where you take some butter and grease the pan with it, before throwing flour all over it, making sure to get every area of the pan covered. 

Gar had done the first pan, where the first sponge would be made, but Rachel and Jason had both wanted to do the second. She's still not sure how their playful argument turned into them pelting flour at each other, while Gar subtly lined the second pan, which led to them joining forces to shower him in flour for being underhanded, but she had to admit, it was a pretty fun, if very messy, fight. 

"Okay, let's get back to actually baking," she said once they had cleaned their hands. "What do we need to do now?" 

~~~

Gar resisted the urge to snort as Jason held the electric whisk he had found like a psychopath wielding an axe. Rachel had forgone resistance all together, alternating between laughing and gasping for breath as Jason held the whisk high above his head, as though he was about to go for the kill shot. 

They had measured out the self-raising flour, caster sugar and butter, and whisked the eggs before dumping them all in the big bowl they found. Jason had whisked them all into a batter.

Gar glanced at the recipe on the other boy's phone, skimming through it as Jason and Rachel peered at the mixture. "Seems too thick to me," Rachel commented, dipping a finger to swipe some into her mouth. "Tastes good though." 

"Right?" Jason said, having done the same. 

"Wash your hands, you peasants," he said unthinkingly. 

"At once, sire," Jason bowed, putting on a posh English accent while Rachel giggled. 

"Haha, funny," he deadpanned, frowning as he looked at the mixture. It did look a little thick, like they had forgotten...

Gar mentally face-palmed. "We forgot to put in milk." 

A short time later, after fixing the batter and separating it into two pans, they had to wait for the oven to heat up because they forgot to put it on in the first place.

"We're not too doing well at this, are we?" Gar wondered aloud, after they had put the two cake pans into the oven to bake. He wasn't complaining though; quite the opposite, in fact. What fun was life if everything went according to plan?

"Eh, I think we're doing okay." Jason said.

"We forgot to sieve the flour and sugar," Rachel reminded them, the result of which was a slightly clumpy batter. 

"Dudes, honestly, as long as we don't poison ourselves, I'm gonna consider that a win," Jason told them, which Gar privately agreed with. 

Rachel clapped her hands. "We still have to make the frosting!" 

"Oh right, the buttercream." That's what the recipe suggested they make, anyway. They needed butter (shock), milk and icing sugar. Gar was worried they wouldn't have that, but by some stroke of luck, they found an unopened packet in one of the higher shelves of the cupboard. 

"Time to whisk," Rachel grinned, after they had measured the butter and icing sugar and placed them in the bowl. Only problem though was once she had finished whisking it, it didn't look like it could be cream.

Rachel looked up suddenly, with the face of someone tired and done with their own dumbassary (was that a word? It should be a word). "You know what we forgot?" 

Jason nodded, completely understanding. "Sugar," he said, as he reached for the caster sugar.

"No!" She cried. "Milk!" 

"Oh," Jason paused. "Yeah, that makes WAY more sense." 

Gar grinned suddenly. "I guess you could say..." Pause for dramatic effect, "WE NEED SOME MILK!" 

He cackled as they threw flour at him. 

~~~

Dick exited the elevator once it finally reached his floor, feeling much more tired than he had when left that morning.

Evening was just beginning as he silently treaded into the Tower, heckles raised as he heard panicked voices talking over each other. He paused, still hidden by the shadows in the living room. The air had a sweet smell to it, as though someone had been baking something...

Rachel appeared in front of him. "Dick, you're back!" She said, much louder that was strictly necessary and Dick took note of the way the voices in the kitchen paused before continuing in much lower, though no less frantic, tones.

He looked at the girl with narrowed eyes. "What did you do?" 

She grinned, and Dick momentarily forgot that he was supposed to be finding out the cause of her, Jason and Gar's suspicious behaviour (for who else could the bickering voices in the kitchen be?) as he smiled back at her. She looked so young in that moment, carefree and bright, like the child she was supposed to be. 

_God, they're all so young,_ he thought. The realisation sent a pang of pain through his heart, and he ached, because they were just children, dragged into a world they shouldn't be in, one with demons and monsters and lunatics in clown costumes who liked to kill people for fun, and there wasn't anything he could do to fix that. 

_And one day, they'll die in that world, because that's what always happens, and that's what will happen to them, because you can't protect them, just like you couldn't protect Jericho-_

_No._ He wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let history repeat itself. He'd do whatever he had to, to keep these kids safe. 

"Nothing bad," Rachel assured him, answering his earlier question and interrupting the dark thoughts that constantly plagued him. "Um-" she glanced at the kitchen, before looking back at him, "Come and see!" She grabbed his hand and Dick let her drag him to where the boys were. 

The first thing Dick noticed was that the kitchen was a mess. Flour covered almost every available surface, dirty dishes piled up high in the sink and two cooling trays dribbled jelly and cream out onto the table. The next thing he noticed was Gar and Jason standing on the other side of the counter, trying to hold something up on a plate in front of them. 

"Is that a cake?" He said, for once quite thoroughly perplexed. 

Rachel grinned, letting go of his hand and walking around the isle to stand next to the two boys, who had fallen quiet at his question. "Yep! What do you think?" 

Dick looked at the cake on the counter. 

One sponge had been placed atop of another one, as jelly and cream oozed out from between them. The sponge on top kept sliding off and Gar had to keep pushing it back up. The cake was lightly dusted with icing sugar. 

"Victoria sponge cake?" He guessed. 

"Yeah! Found a recipe online," Jason grinned, and Dick was once again reminded of how young they really all were. Before his thoughts could take a darker turn, he smiled back at the three. 

"Well, I guess we know what's for dessert tonight." The three New Titans (they would be better, he'd make sure they were better) smiled at each other and Dick only felt minimal guilt for disrupting that by saying, "After you guys wash the dishes, of course." 

He walked away, smirking at the groans that perpetrated the room. 

Later, he'd take the first bite from the cake, as three pairs of eyes not-so-secretly watched him and he'd smile and praise them for the good job they had done. 

The cake was by no means pretty; quite the opposite. It had bumps in places where it should be smooth, jelly and cream spilling from it and onto the plate because the cream hadn't been whisked quite thickly enough, and it was not at all the shape a Victoria sponge cake should be. But it tasted sweet and wasn't poisonous and most importantly, it had been made through friendship and family and love.

For that, Dick thinks it's the best cake he's ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> So that thing about using butter and flour to grease the pan is true - my dad used to be a baker and that's what he did. It's very effective and works in place of baking paper, though be warned, it is VERY messy. 
> 
> Sorry for any inconsistencies with grammar. I'm Scottish, so everything I know about American culture comes from TV. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Constructive criticism is welcome but no hate please. 
> 
> Leave a kudos and a comment, they might fill the void where my soul should be.


End file.
